same antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables. it also has the fiber. >> but they're hard to chew. they get stuck in your teeth -- >> break your teeth. >> not good. although popcorn without butter and salt -- >> okay. >> yeah. >> tasteless but okay. >> okay. stay with us, "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. supreme showdown. this morning the debate over health care reform reaches the supreme court. and already people are lined up for a chance to witness history. nuclear talks. the president using a trip to south korea to call for changes. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this monday, march 26, 2012. we're going to take a live look outside now at 5:00 a.m. 56 degrees on your monday to start the workweek. not bad. is it cooling down, tom? >> don't put away your winter coat quite yet. >> oh, no.

it's gone. >> i'm talking freezing temperatures around here this time tomorrow morning. just incredible when we were in the 80s on friday. now we'll be talking about, yes, bringing in your tender plant. it's going to be down near or below freezing this time tomorrow morning. not this morning. this monday morning starting off right now with temperatures in the low to mid 50s. in montgomery, fairfax, arlington, and prince george's county and the district of columbia, mid 50s now. in the mid to upper 50s around the chesapeake bay, southern maryland, northern neck, lower eastern shore. the blue ridge, shenandoah valley, into the mountains now, in the mid and low 50s there. along the pennsylvania border, low 50s, hagerstown now at 51. here's your day planner. sunrise at 7:01. mostly sunny, just a few high clouds to our south and east. temperatures up around 60 by 9:00. by noontime, lots of sunshine, mild, we'll be in the low 60s to mid 60s by noontime. and then between noon and 5:00, actually may hit the upper 60s. then by 5:00, we'll be dropping

back down to near 60 again with lots of sunshine. sunset at 7:26. yes, i'll show you the counties under the freeze warnings and freeze watches for tonight. that will be coming up in ten minutes along with your evening planner. danella, good morning. how's the monday traffic? good morning, not seeing any accidents in our area so far. first let's start with the rails. if you're taking the rails, no delays now. they're all running so far on time. now over to the roadways, if you're traveling on route 50, here's a live look now at route 50 at 301. making your way westbound and eastbound, very light volume. and at speed, actually a little over speed. 64 miles per hour westbound. eight minutes to get from 301 to the beltway. traveling on the beltway, no issues in prince george's county. here's a look now at good luck road. you're traveling issue free, and your travel speed now making your way from 50 to i-95, you're at 59 miles per hour. nine minutes on the outer loop of the beltway. eun? >> thank you. 5:02. today the u.s. supreme court will take up the obama administration's sweeping health care law. it is destined to become a

landmark case and will affect every man, woman, and child in this country for many years to come. tracee wilkins is live at the supreme court where people have been waiting for a chance to get in and see the proceedings. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. yes, and it's hard to believe that it's been two years since this was passed into law because it was thrown into court of appeals around the country. so americans all over the country have been waiting for today, this opportunity to hear what the highest court in the land has to say about the health care act. and there are folks, as you said, who have been lined up here since friday actually waiting for an opportunity to take a look at this for themselves. now folks from around the country have sat through this weekend's rain and cooling temperatures that we've been experiencing here for a chance to hear this case unfold in person. today the supreme court will begin a hearing, a challenge to president obama's patient protection and affordable care act. the measure is also called obamacare.

the act was pass by congress in 2010. it's aim to provide health insurance to previously uninsured americans. opponents call the law unconstitutional and say congress does not have the right to force americans who don't want insurance to buy it or pay a fine. if upheld, the act will change the way insurance companies do business, including no longer allowing them to deny people insurance because they may have pre-existing condition. arguments will begin here after 10:00 a.m. we're expecting six arguments every day, each day having a different focus. today's focus will be on whether court action is premature since no one has paid a fine yet for not having insurance. we're expecting that to last for 90 minutes. folks outside are hoping to get a peek. >> this law is very very important to me and my family and millions of americans in the same boat. >> this is not about health care. it's not even about access to health care.

it's related to religious freeps and rights in america. >> now, if this court does render a decision, we may not know about that decision until june. they have a lot of time to do it or it could come down between now and june. of course, folks are going to be paying close attention. i'm tracee wilkins in d.c. back to you all in the studio. >> all right. thank you. president obama is meeting with world leaders on his trip to south korea. his first meeting was with russian president dimitri medvedev. both acknowledged key differences on key issues including syria. the united states has criticized russia for opposing u.n. security council. it called on syria's president to stem down and calm deadly violence against syrians. president obama also spoke at the nuclear safety summit. he said that north korea should pursue peace, or it will further isolate itself from the world. >> we're building an international architecture that can insure nuclear safety. but we're under no illusions.

we know that nuclear material, enough for many weapons, is still being stored without adequate protection. >> mr. obama is also holding bilateral talks with leaders from china and kazakhstan today. international communities plan to keep a close watch on north korea as it plans to test launch a long-range rocket next month. doing so threatens a deal with the u.s. for aid. south korea all says it will shoot down the rocket if it strays to its territory. north korea says the rocket's southerly flight path is meant to avoid other countries. doctors are coming to the defense of former vice president dick cheney as he continues to recover from heart transplant surgery. the 71-year-old had the successful procedure saturday at inova fairfax hospital in falls church. some have questioned whether he received special treatment in getting the new heart considering his age. however, doctors say the current rules place medical need over a patient's age in the decision.

inova fairfax is the same hospital in which cheney had a heart pump installed two years ago. dozens of protests and rallies will be held for trayvon martin today, exactly one month after he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. george zimmerman claims that he shot the 17-year-old after a confrontation. martin was not armed. zimmerman was not charged. martin was wearing a hoodie, carrying an iced tea and candy when he was killed. that's why many supporters of trayvon martin wear hoodies at the rallies. they say they want hate crime charges to be filed against zimmerman, alleging his motives for the shooting were racist. >> we stand in solidarity with the family of trayvon martin and stand in support of our children who deserve better than to be stigmatized and stereotyped. >> members of the ledgislative black caucus will hold a rally calling for zimmerman's arrest. it will start at 2:00 at the state house in annapolis,

another rally will be held in sanford, florida. later tonight, martin's parents will speak at a town hall meeting. 5:07. ahead, the shaking that probably woke a lot of us up last night. and breaking her silence. what the wife of the soldier accused in a shooting rampage is saying this morning. ♪

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you. welcome back. it is a bittersweet week here at news4. we say good-bye to joe krebs. just temporarily. i hate even using farewell and good-bye. too sad. we'll be sharing our stories. and some of are you doing that on our facebook page. a great one from lori edwards goldman who brought her 2-year-old daughter for a visit years ago. she says, "my daughter still remembers meeting everyone. a highlight of her young life. joe of as big a deal, if not more so, than elmo. thank you for starting off my day. are you the best, wishing you well." >> when i come back, i want to come back as a muppet. i really do. >> that was your secret dream to begin with. that's why you're leaving -- all right. if you want to leave a comment, head to our facebook page, "news4 today." send us a tweet with the hash

tag good-byejoe. you're compared to elmo. you have arrived. like forget it, all the things that you've accomplished -- >> there could be no higher compliment. >> especially from a 2-year-old. man. >> except maybe kermit. let's check the forecast. tom is telling us about cold temperatures. i can't believe it. i was ready for heading to summer, tom. >> well, forget that. it's going to be cold. this time tomorrow morning. but not this morning. this morning, a mostly clear sky, into the 50s. the areas in green, eastern west virginia and maryland, low to mid 50s. locations out of the mountains in the upper 40s. and it's going to be a mostly sunny day. upper 50s to near 60. by noon, a wind getting blustery this morning and this afternoon, around 30 miles per hour. this evening, we'll have a clear sky. down to the low 40s by midnight. all these areas in blue under freeze watches and warnings. the light blue area, freeze

warnings this time tomorrow morning. we'll look at the week and weekend in ten minutes. danella, good morning. good morning. checking things on the dulles toll road, if this is your commute this morning, you're clear. not seeing any issues. traveling eastbound at dulles toll road at 28, you're at 54 miles per hour. not bad. i'll give you a live look traveling in the wolftrap area. eastbound and westbound, clear. light volume in both directions. travel speeds making your way from huntington mill to the beltway, 56 miles per hour. six minutes to make the trip. no issues on the beltway in virginia. you're clear. inner loop speeds, 62 miles per hour. 14 minutes from the interchange to the dulles toll road. back to you both. >> thank you very much. 5:13. 55 degrees. ahead on "news4 today," the in-home scare for one of television's most notorious critics. and how the wife of a athis one's for all us lawnsmiths.

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the death toll is at nine from a fire that destroyed a west virginia home. timothy brian kemp was taken off of life support at charleston hospital early yesterday morning. seven children and two adults died in the fire. authorities are still looking for a cause of the blaze. they did find a smoke detector inside the home, but it was not working. unbelievable, that's how the wife of army staff sergeant robert bales describes the accusations against him. >> he's accused of killing 17 afghan civilians. aaron gilchrist has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. in that exclusive interview with matt lauer, karilyn bales says her husband "would not do that." robert bales is to be charged with 17 counts of pre meditamed more and several other charges, as well, that came down on friday. the army now says he killed 13 children and four adults and wounded six other people. investigators say they believe bales killed in two episodes, returning to his base after the

first attack and then slipping away again. karilyn bales has spoken to her husband by phone twice since the massacre and says she stands by her husband. >> when i asked what kind of dad he was, you said he was so involved with his children. he loves children. >> he lofts children. he's like a big -- loves children. he's like a big kid himself. >> he is accused of killing nine children. innocent -- >> right -- >> innocent children. >> it's unbelievable to me. i have no idea what happened, but he would not -- he loves children, and he would not do that. >> bales went on to say her husband joined the army after september 11 to "protect his family, friends, and country." the couple has two children and were moved to lewis mcchord for their safety. more at 7:00 a.m. and we're learning that the u.s. military has paid about $900,000

to the families that were impacted by the killings and also the families who were impacted by some of the wounding that happened in afghanistan. back to you. >> thank you very much. people in chile are recovering this morning after a 7.2 earthquake there. it hit last night about 20 miles north of talka, in the middle of the country. there are fears of a tsunami. officials have ordered evacuations of cities along the coast. so far, though, there have been no signs of any major waves heading toward the coast. amazingly, there have been no reports of deaths or major damage from this large quake. new from overnight, a 3.1 aftershock rattled virginia. the aftershock hit about eight miles south of mineral. the same place where a 5.8 quake hit last august. dozens reported feeling the aftershock. it is the largest quake to hit virginia since january 30 and one of more than 100 aftershocks to hit since last year's earthquake. hope of economic and political changes are growing in

cuba as the country's catholics get ready for the pope's arrival today. the pope is visiting the island nation for the first time in 14 years after wrapping up a three-day visit to mexico. his arrival is giving followers hope that he will improve the relationship between catholics and the cuban government. catholicism has been severely repressed in the decades since the cuban revolution, with many catholics being jailed or thrown out of the country. and the wife of a maryland man jailed in cuba hopes the pope's visit will lead to her husband's freedom. alan gross of potomac has spent more than two years behind bars accused of spying while on an international aid mission in cuba. judy gross is hoping that supporters of her husband will be able to nudge pope benedict into addressing his case when he sits down with raul castro. gross' wife that's her husband's health has deteriorated rapidly while in prison. rick santorum using his win in the louisiana primary to step

up his attacks on mitt romney. santorum claims romney's lead in total delegates is inaccurate, claiming bad math does not reflect what's going on the ground where stay-at-home's campaign is thriving. santorum told voters in wisconsin that romney's views "uniquely disquahim -- disqualify him from being the nop nomination" and says he's the worst person to put up against president obama. republicans in the district will get a chance tonight to show support for their presidential candidate. the d.c. republican committee will hold a straw poll tonight ahead of next month's primary. 5:21 is our time. time for a look at weather & traffic on the 1s. >> that's right. if you thought spring was kind of crazy, tom is here to tell us that that's true. it's been warm like summer. now going to cold temperatures. >> incredibli, this time tomorrow, we will be down near or below freezing. right now, there's the washington monument under a clear sky. reagan national at 55. we're in the low 50s in

montgomery county. in the mid 50s in arlington, fairfax, also mid 50s in prince george's county, much of southern maryland, and near the bay. in the mid to upper 50s. and farther to the west and north, low 50s, shenandoah valley and much of western maryland, into the mountains. and later today, sunrise at 7:01. we'll have a sunny day. the winds will be picking up, gusting to around 30 miles per hour. temperatures by noontime, low 60s. we ought to hit the mid to upper 60s by the middle of the afternoon. then this evening, getting chilly under a clear sky. by midnight, we'll be down into the low 40s. and then by dawn tomorrow, a freeze likely in all these counties in blue. includes most of our region. right around the metro area, too. and then during the day on tuesday with sunshine into the upper 50s, a bit milder on wednesday, near 70, increasing clouds. might get an afternoon or evening shower wednesday. thursday, sunshine back. highs upper 60s, sunny and cooler on friday. over the weekend, partly sunny, saturday and sunday, might get showers late saturday night. danella, how's traffic? good morning. commuters are waking up and hitting the roadways on i-95.

this is a live look at the occoquan, getting busy heading northbound. southbound, you're nice and clear. northbound travel speeds, though, not bad yet. from the occoquan to the beltway, looking at 63 miles per hour. only taking 11 minutes. now heading over to 395, here's a live look at duke street. not so bad at all. really clear as you make your way to the 14th street bridge. southbound on 395, no issues there. here's a live look at the 14th street bridge, clear as you head into the city. your travel speed, 58 miles per hour. only taking 12 minutes to make the trip. joe, over to you. >> danella, thank you very much. a scene we haven't seen on a sunday in more than two years. tiger woods walking off the golf course as a winner. for the first time in more than 923 days, we saw the famous fist pump as woods won the arnold palmer invitational in orlando by five shots. the masters is up next. woods had not one tournament since the pga championship in 2009. once before his well-documented personal problems began. one thing we did not get to

see on yesterday, arnold palmer congratulating woods for winning his tournament, a record seventh time. the golfing legend was taken to the hospital 15 minutes before woods finished off his victory after doctors noticed -- an increase in palmer's blood pressure. the 82-year-old palmer spent the night in the hospital as a precaution but is expected to be okay. the maryland women are heading to the elite eight after a thrilling win over defending champions texas a&m. the terps were down by as much as 18 but stormed back, ending the game on a 24-1 run. next up top seed notre dame on tuesday. go, terps. for the men, only four teams in remain in march madness. number one kentucky in the final four for the second year in a row. the wildcats beat the baylor bears 82-70. the two -- two-seeded jayhawks advanced to the final four defeating one seed north carolina 80-67. so here's the bracket for the final four.

one side, all kentucky match-up as the wildcats will play the number-four seed louisville cardinals. and a pair of two seeds square off. kansas against ohio state. >> those are going to be big games. >> big games. all next saturday. >> there you go. what we're doing saturday. "the hunger games" has been wildly successful as a book, telling more than five million copies worldwide. good book, too. >> yeah. you enjoyed it -- >> i really enjoyed it. >> now it's seeing success as a movie. the blockbuster made $155 million this opening weekend, making it the third best debut ever in terms of revenue. the "harry potter" finale and 2008's "the dark knight" were the only films to make more money. analysts expect the action film to make as much as $700 million worldwide. "the hunger games" did set a record, making the most revenue for a movie that is not a sequel so far. expect sequels. >> that's right. two more books. i have to see this movie. >> director james cameron is

probably glad to be back on solid ground this morning. >> he just returned from traveling to the deepest point on earth. director of "avatar" and "titanic" explored and filmed the mariana trench, 200 miles southwest of guam. he's the first human ever to get down to the trench which is seven miles down. cameron traveled down in a specially designed submarine called the "deep sea challenger." he collected scientific data and specimens for scientists to study. what do you think he found down there? >> a lot of darkness. i think that's what he found. >> seven miles. >> really dark down there and a lot of -- lot of, you know, creatures that have never seen daylight, sunlights. a woman accused of breaking into music mogul and producer simon cowell's home will be in court today. she's described as an overzealous fan. listen to this -- she was reportedly carrying a brick when s she broke into the home.

cowell found the woman with the brick in his bathroom. nothing was taken and no one was injured. yikes. >> indeed. 5:26. 56 degrees. coming up, the brand new road already needing repairs. also, a troubling report just released for parents of teenage drivers. facebook fight, the lawmakers who want to make sure your private page stays that way. and long lines for a chance i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom. but in the sleep number store, we hear it all the time. yeah, nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. don't mess with my side because i'm comfortable. i can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. go ahead and switch sides so you can feel what the other side feels like.

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welcome back. here are some of the big stories we're following -- a landmark case will be taken up at the supreme court more than two years in the making. people are lined up waiting for their chance to see history. an emotional day for trayvon martin's parents. the unarmed teenager shot and killed in florida. somehow local lawmakers will be showing their support coming up. and the latest on the health of former vice president dick cheney recovering in a local hospital this morning. good morning to you, i'm eun yang. >> good morning, i'm joe krebs. welcome back to "news4 today." we have a big change in the weather headed our way. let's take a live look outside. can't really see it there. 56 degrees. still -- i wouldn't call it cold, but it's going to get cold tom says. >> winter saying, huh-uh, not so

fast. not done with us yet. by this time tomorrow, we may have freezing temperatures. in fact, right now where you look at the map across the top of the screen and areas in blue, it is at or below freezing. upstate new york, saranac lake now 27 degrees and snowing. southern ontario north of lake superior, one place down to 13 degrees. northern michigan, sault ste. marie, 23 degrees. some of that cold air coming our way. the areas in green in the 50s. 55 at reagan national. and in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties, we're in the low to mid 50s. 50s throughout most of maryland, virginia, and into eastern west virginia. a few locations in the mountains, spots in the 40s in far western maryland. the highlands of west virginia. we've got a mostly clear sky, a few clouds south and east of washington. here's the day planner. sunrise at 7:01. lots of sunshine by 9:00. into the upper 50s to around 60. by noontime, bright and sunny,

blue sky, temperatures in the low 60s. and the winds beginning to pick up. going to be blustery. in fact, we could have winds gusting to around 30 miles per hour this afternoon with temperatures peaking in the mid to upper 60s by mid-afternoon. then down to the low 60s by 5:00. sun set's at 7:26. i'll show you counties under freeze watches and warnings coming up in ten minutes. danella? good morning. police are on the scene of a disabled vehicle. you can see here in the right shoulder lane. travel lanes are open, though. this is at van dorn the outer loop of the beltway. just be aware of that. now, checking travel speeds on bw parkway, not bad. southbound, 61 miles per hour at landover road. you're clear northbound and southbound on bw parkway. traveling on route 50 westbound, also at landover road, 61 miles per hour. you slow down just a bit making your way to kenilworth avenue. you're at 53 miles per hour. if you're connecting to new york avenue, your travel lanes are open. not seeing any issues. i can tell you you're picking up steam.

joe, over to you. >> thank you very much. people have been lining up for days outside the united states supreme court to get a front row seat or any seat at today's health care reform hearing. the debate has polarized the nation and now the highest court is being asked to decide whether the law is unconstitutional. brian mooar is live at the supreme court with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, joe. s of people have been camped out here -- dozens of people have been camped out here. they've seen cold weather, rain. this morning they got hit by the sprinklers. those waiting this out, the lucky few who will be inside the courtroom today say it will all have been worth the wait. today, the beginning of three days of epic arguments over president obama's health care law. it is a law sweeping in its scope, and so are the challenges to it. 26 states saying that the law in its essence is illegal. at the core of this is an argument over whether the government can force americans

to pay for health care. beginning today, drier legal arguments over whether it is time to take up the case. over the next three days, the nine justices will hear the arguments on the case and its constitutionality. and it will be a law, a ruling that affects americans all over this country. joe? >> thank you very much. brian mooar reporting live. former vice president dick cheney continues to recover at a virginia hospital this morning after having successful heart transplant surgery. the 71-year-old had the procedure saturday at inova fairfax hospital in falls church. it is the same hospital he had a heart pump installed two years ago, about the time he was added to the transplant list. some have questioned if cheney received special treatment considering his age. however, doctors say current rules place medical need over a patient's age. the u.s. justice department may take a closer look at companies that force would-be employees to hand over social media passwords.

senators chuck schumer of new york and richard blumenthal of connecticut are calling for an investigation into the practice to see whether it breaks federal employment laws. an increasing number of companies are asking would-be employees for their passcords during job -- passwords during job interviews, and that's raising concerns about privacy. >> we believe employers have no right to ask their job applicants for many things. for their house keys, for their diaries. why should they be able to ask them to do the electronic version of the same thing and get their facebook passwords? >> last week, facebook warned employers to stop asking for that information, claiming that it violates that company's long-standing policy against sharing passwords. a 4-year-old child is recovering this morning after getting a foot caught in a metro escalator. it happened at the dupont circle station. we're told the 4-year-old's foot was stuck between a step and the side skirt of the escalator. a police spokesman says that crews stopped the escalator and removed the shoe. the child of taken to the hospital as a precaution.

montgomery county homeowners could soon be paying higher taxes to help fund new express bus lanes across the country. the transit task force is expected to push for a property tax hike when they release their report next month. the group tells the "washington post" that rapid bus transit is the cheapest way to move commuters along its traffic-choked corridors. construction mistakes could have drivers seeing more orange cones the next time they use maryland's intercounty connector. beginning next week, crews will begin fixing premature cracks found on four bridges along the brand new $2.6 billion toll road. the review found at least four bridges were not designed with enough steel to it handle the wear and tear of traffic long term. state officials have said that there is no imminent safety concerns, but they are fixing it as a precaution. a new video study from aaa shows electronics are the biggest cause of distracted teen drivers. the videos which started recording only when the car made abrupt moves showed that talking on the phone or texting while

driving was the most common behavior that distracted young drivers. the study also revealed that in nearly half the videos, the driver looked away from the road for a short period of time before the incident. there were three times more likely -- they were three times more likely to look away because of an electronic device. >> got to be careful. 5:37 the time. a guilty pleasure turns out to be a healthy pleasure, as well. plus, an important health alert for moms-to-be. and caught on tape. a local man watches a pair of thieves try to steal his

at progressive, you can bundle your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com. consider popcorn as you get your snacks ready for today. a study at the university of scranton in pennsylvania shows that air-popped popcorn is low in calories, high in fair, and ant ax -- fiber, and antioxidants. the hull, the part that often gets stuck in your teeth, contains polyphenols, the same antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables. the hull also has the fiber in popcorn. researchers say, though, hold off on the salt and butter which can be a nutritional nightmare for popcorn. what's good without salt and butter, though?

doesn't -- don't all foods taste better with salt and butter? who eats popcorn without salt and butter? like wondering. >> there are some i'm sure. >> we'll go the healthy route with the popcorn. let's go to tom kierein in storm center 4. big changes are on the way. >> oh, what a difference tomorrow morning from what we had this morning. these are the temperatures as you start off your monday. down into the 50s throughout much of the region. that includes mt. pleasant, district heights, palmer park, mclean, vienna, olney. all those areas down into the mid to upper 50s. and later today, by 9:00, fire 60. noon -- near 60. noontime, upper 60s. gusts to around 30 miles per hour out of the north and west as high pressure pushes in under a clear sky. reaching the mid to upper 60s this afternoon. then this evening, clear and chilly to downright cold. in fact, it will be down to the low 40s by midnight. all these counties in blue under freeze watches and warnings. the areas in light blue, freeze

warnings likely. freezing temperatures, shenandoah valley, mountains, northern maryland, and even near freezing near the district and around the nearby suburbs in northern virginia and maryland. i'll have the latest coming up. good morning. still seeing the disabled flat bed blocking the lane at van dorn. travel lanes are open. traveli traveling i-66, busy at fairfax parkway. still traveling, good travel speed of 59 miles per hour. only taking 11 minutes at this time to get from fairfax county parkway. not seeing delays on the rails. back to you both. >> thank you. 5:42 of the waste of time and that's not all. the waste of your morning commute. not so fast. two thieves trying to steal a minivan. and how lawmakers from our

welcome back. dozens of protests and rallies will be held for trayvon martin today, exactly one month after he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. george zimmerman claims he shot the 17-year-old after a confrontation. martin was not armed. zimmerman has not been charged. supporters of trayvon martin want hate crime charges to be filed against zimmerman alleging that his motives for shooting the teenager were racist. zimmerman's attorney told the "today" show this weekend that he has evidence that zimmerman acted in self-defense. >> george zimmerman suffered a broken nose, an injury, a gash to the back of his head. there were grass stains on the back of his shirt. and he claims that trayvon martin struck him, and he went down. >> today members of the legislative black caucus of maryland will hold a rally

calling for zimmerman's arrested. the rally will begin at 2:00 at the state house in annapolis. another rally will be held in sanford, florida. later tonight, martin's parents will speak at a city council meeting. a group of neighbors in d.c. banded together to help stop a car thief. >> somebody's breaking in our van. >> it happened friday in the 5200 block of 4th street northeast. a man saw two teens breaking into his car and started recording it. after a couple of minutes he decided to try and stop them, enlisting the help of neighbors. eventually they were able to wrestle one of the teens to the ground, and a retired police officer handcuffed him until an on-duty police officer arrived and arrested the suspect. the teen is charged with attempted theft, assault, and destruction of property. we will likely see gasoline triesing take a considerable -- prices take a considerable jump over the next week as they switch from a winter blend to a summer blend in april, adding 10

to 20 cents per gallon. analysts expect prices to level off in mid-may. in our area, aaa says the average price per gallon is $4.13 in the district. in alder, averaging $3 -- in maryland, averaging $3.93. up a penny overnight. in virginia, $2.83 -- $3.83. and in west virginia, $3.93 for a gallon of regular. think about this if you end up sitting in traffic this morning. a new general hospital report shows that u.s. drivers waste nearly two billion gallons of gas a year sitting in traffic. that is costing drivers more than $100 billion. the treasury department report also says drivers spend more than $400 a year in car maintenance due to poor road conditions. president obama is using the report as support for his plan to upgrade in transportation infrastructure. shoppers in prince george's county can continue to use plastic shopping bags at the store without paying anything extra. the bill that would have given

county lawmakers the authority to impose a five-cent fee on disposable shopping bags died in the general assembly over the weekend. opponents of the plan said supporters had not persuaded them that the tax would do enough to help the environment. the bag tax took effect in january. a new study says pregnancy can increase a woman's risk for a deadly heart attack. researchers say having a heart attack while pregnant or in the 12 weeks after giving birth is very low, just one in every 16,000 deliveries. the study found most pregnant women did not have traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. researchers say their heart attacks were more severe, and the death rate was two to three times higher than what is expected of nonpregnant women the same age. today first lady michelle obama will host students from across the country in the white house kitchen garden. this afternoon they'll take part in the spring planting. students were selected after writing letters to the first

lady about gardens at their school. d.c. students from harriet tubbsman and others are invited to take part. the first lady wants to start a national conversation about children's health. and fireworks marked the beginning of the cherry blossom festival. thousands stood in the rain for opening day even though most of the blossoms themselves were beginning to fade. the peak bloom is already over now. rain also washed away a lot of the blossoms over the weekend. there are still several events, though, planned for the rest of this five-week-long festival. >> the petals falling look like fireworks themselves. a beautiful scene. >> or snow. >> or snow. right. don't say snow. >> i know. we're talking cold enough for snow. >> what? >> this time tomorrow morning. no snow. just cold weather moving our way. and if we're going -- we're going to have disappointed daffodils and some traumatized tulips. >> yeah. >> by this time tomorrow morning

because we've got so many things flowering on that area, dark blue at the top of the screen, it's at or blow freezing. northern michigan -- below freezing. northern michigan, northern new england, a big area of high pressure coming down our way. all these areas in green in the 50s. right now, in the mid 50s in washington, and southern montgomery, prince george's, arlington, and fairfax counties, near the bay, temperatures near 60. out of the mountains, a few locations generally in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees, as well as the shenandoah valley. and we have just a few clouds there. clear sky over washington. most of northern virginia and maryland. a few clouds lingering southeastern virginia and the eastern shore. for today, here's the day planner, sunrise at 7:01. temperatures by 9:00 in the upper 50s. just a few high clouds coming in. the winds will be picking up in intensity. in fact by late morning into the early afternoon, we could have gusts to around 30 miles per hour. the winds should diminish by later tonight. it's going to be sunny through the afternoon. we'll be in the low 60s by noon. by middle of the afternoon, the

mid to upper 60s. then this evening, under a clear sky, sunset at 7:26. getting chilly. the 40s by mid evening, by midnight, the low 40s. and by this time tomorrow morning, freezing temperatures. all these counties in blue and light blue, freeze warnings. shenandoah valley, eastern west virginia, western maryland, northern maryland, all these areas in light blue likely into the mid to upper 20s this time tomorrow morning. right around washington in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, the district, and prince george's county and much of northern virginia, we may be hovering near freezing or a little above freezing. and for the rest of the time as we get into tuesday, we'll have sunshine, into the upper 50s. milder wednesday. increasing clouds, might get showers late wednesday into wednesday evening. sun pack on thursday. highs 60s. sunny and cooler on friday. might get a shower saturday to sunday. danella? good morning, taking i-270, checking things along that road. you are slowing down already. southbound, slow making your way

out of urbana as you head toward clarksburg. in urbana, 36 miles per hour. you can see here at clarksburg road, the road opens up, and you're not so pad just yet. here's a live look at shady grove. you see some volume, but still really good speed making your way on to the spur and connect to the beltway. to the rails, still checking them. not seeing any delays at this time. joe and eun? >> thank you very much. boy, this is going to be a special, emotional, bittersweet, you name it, i'm going to be boo hooing all week, i'm sure a lot of you will, too. we'll make it fun, too, joe.

[ technical difficulties ] >> it's going to be a significant change, and it's beginning to occur to me. >> broadcast bug bit joe as a child. >> between 8:00 and 8:15, we would listen to the nbc "world news roundup." >> today's "roundup" clz news pickups from three overseas points. >> i would hear those guys all over the world and the anchors in washington, and the correspondents throughout the world, and i just thought that sounded like the neatest thing in the world to do. >> and do he did. with his brothers in the basement of his st. louis home. >> we called it kgfj for krebs, joe, frank, and gene. we called it kgfg radio because we had to have the "r" because i had a brother rob. we had turntables and would spin

records and tear out articles from the newspaper and pretend like we were reading the news. >> broadcasting would be a dream deferred for joe. instead he would go to law school and the navy. but the microphone was still calling. and at 27, joe answered, landing a job in greensboro, north carolina. >> the news director said, okay, sit down here and type your story. and i'd never typed a thing in my life. i was literally -- trying to put my story together. >> he got the hang of it, earned a job in baltimore, and set his sights on the nation's capital and nbc 4. >> i knew this building that i worked in was the home of nbc news in washington. that was like mecca to me. this is a horrible sight to be seeing -- >> for 14 years, joe was the man on the street covering everything from politics to roller coasters, crime to punishment. among the most memorable stories for this former prosecutor, the trial of john hinckley. >> the jury was able to listen

to psychiatric testimony, all these important legal distinctions and listen to all this and come up with a verdict that decided -- a gutsy verdict -- that ruled he was not criminally responsible, he was not guilty by reason of insanity. and i thought that was an extraordinary experience. it was a very difficult decision. >> the job has meant a little fun, too. i mean, when was the last time you got in a fighter jet and had the pilot say "go for it"? >> being able to pull back and have the plane go up and up and he said, look over your head, and you could see the contrail. it was thrilling. >> welcome back to the second half of "news4 today.." >> >> reporter: joe has called the anchor desk home alongside barbara and eun, continuing to serve the people. every morning a laugh, smile, and all the news washington needs to know. >> to work every day, take your job seriously, and mean to do it well. try to do it well every day. that's the challenge, and in many ways because that's the

challenge, that's the fun of it. >> we had a great conversation. going to be much more of our conversation tomorrow. we'll talk a little about what joe plans to do in retirement. one of the things i didn't ask you there that i wanted to ask you here is the thing that everybody notes when they talk about joe krebs. that is the signature -- i won't even tampa to do -- even attemp. the bye at the end of the show. what's up with that? >> i guess it probably came from -- you mentioned my first job was in north carolina. well, down in north carolina, every time you walked into the newsroom in the morning, it was hi. and every time you left in the afternoon it was bye. so -- so it's just -- it seemed like a natural thing to do at the end of one of our newscasts. barbara was saying something, she finished saying what she was saying, and i would -- like an exclamation point said bye. that's where it came from. >> and people love it. >> people -- not only that but they set their whole day with bye. they can't leave the house until you said it. we have to teach them they'll have to move along -- >> i'm sure they will get over

it. i want to thank them -- >> a long week of tributes. >> thank you. that was very nice. thanks. >> we'll be right back. you can send messages on facebook and twitter, as well.

one of the most anticipated supreme court cases in recent history gets underway